


Christmas: a 'Dalise' side story

by americanphancakes



Series: Fur Elise [2]
Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Baking, Christmas, Couch Sex, Dan's Live Stream, F/M, Fluff, Heterosexual Sex, romantic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 22:26:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12803712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americanphancakes/pseuds/americanphancakes
Summary: Dan and Elise have their first Christmas season living together (with Phil) in London. A collection of fluff that got deleted from "Only One of You in this World." (Read that first for context.)





	Christmas: a 'Dalise' side story

**Author's Note:**

> It's Thanksgiving Day here in the USA, which means it's officially Christmas now! Because that's how it works.
> 
> This was a chapter that I had to cut out of "Only One of You in this World" because it just kinda threw the pacing off, and none of it was essential to the flow of the story anyway (and also there's a not-graphic sex scene that I just felt weird about posting). So I held onto it as a "deleted scene" of sorts, edited the crap out of it, and decided to post it once it was cold enough outside. :)
> 
> Enjoy!

It was Tuesday. Time for another live show.

 

Dan sat in the lounge, held his iPhone up, checked to make sure he looked alright, suddenly remembered to double-check he was indeed streaming on his side channel instead of his main channel, then finally tapped the button to go live.

 

“Hello!” he said cheerfully, saluting to his audience. “Hi everybody. What up? It’s Danny fire comin’ at you… live… from my lounge. I hope you’re all doing well. ‘You look exhausted.’ Well I am but in a good way. Phil and I have been doing Christmas preparations. The gaming room is almost all decorated already for Gamingmas. Look forward to that. Well... wait. Before I get into the stream too much, let me tweet it out....”

 

Dan opened up his laptop and, with one hand, tweeted out the link to the live stream, narrating to his viewers as he did.

 

“So I’ve just been shopping… on my laptop.” Dan laughed. “Thank the universe for the internet, where even introverts can get their Christmas shopping done on time. ‘Where’s Phil?’ He’s in another room. ‘Where’s Elise?’ She’s in our bedroom working. She’s putting the finishing touches on… a thing. Something. She’s not-- I’m not sure if she’s announced it yet. ‘The EP!’ everyone in the chat is saying. Okay, I guess if you all already know then yes I can say she’s finishing up her EP. She did finish the cover art for it, which she did herself! I don’t know if you guys know this but graphic design is… like, okay, I like doing the Photoshop thing but she makes me look like a freaking moron with it. So she rendered this whole thing, and it’s kind of inspired by-- I don’t know if any of you have any idea who Emerson, Lake, and Palmer are, because Phil did but I didn’t, but they have an album where the art was done by the same guy who designed the Aliens in the Alien movies, and it’s really dark and strange in a really cool way, and she said it’s kind of inspired by that but it’s more cyberpunky. It’s turned out really cool. The proofs came back for the LP sleeve, and it’s got like a really creative folding package and there’s like gold leaf embossing on it. She went all out, she was like ‘I might never get the chance to do this again!’ I can’t show you, cuz spoilers! I probably said too much anyway. ‘OMG ELP,’ someone in the chat says. ELP? Oh, Emerson L-- you guys are way more cultured than I am. ‘Why isn’t she doing a Christmas album?’ I don’t know, maybe because she hasn’t released a regular album yet?” Dan chuckled. “I don’t know, ask her. She is kind of obsessed with Christmas, she has said that she wants to do Christmas music next year probably. So maybe she’ll give us some of that.” 

 

Dan paused for a moment to look at the chat. “Miranda asks ‘What are you getting Elise for Christmas?’ and I don’t know if-- Elise! Can you hear me?” Dan called out, then briefly stopped to listen for a response. “Apparently not! Probably got her headphones on. Anyway, Elise, if you’re watching this stream please fast forward like… a few minutes. I don’t know how many, just guess. Anyway, I’m getting her a bunch of like, really nostalgic stuff cuz she’s very easily affected by like, happy memories from her past, you know? I’ve never seen anyone’s eyes well up when they’re playing - there’s this PlayStation 2 game called Kinetica that she really likes, and it’s just this like, techno futuristic racing game, but I swear her eyes got all misty when she played it the other day because she played it in high school. So I’m getting her these scented candles that smell like places she’s lived, like Texas smells like barbecue and leather and citrus, and Los Angeles smells like the ocean and sand and oranges and jasmine, and there’s ones for the places her parents live too, so she can smell her parents’ houses without the hassle of actually going to see them.” Dan laughed, knowing full well how sad that last sentence sounded. “‘Homesick candles!’ Mason in the chat says. Yes! They’re pretty great, look them up, Homesick Candles is the brand name. Hashtag not spon. The scents are really complex, I was really surprised how good they were. ‘There’s a UK one,’ yeah, that’s how I heard about them, someone bought me and Phil that one last year. It wasn’t accurate but it was rather pleasant. I’m also getting her some geeky jewelry because when you’re a boyfriend instead of a friend you’re sort of expected to do better than a Funko pop figure, right?” Dan laughed, his eyes glittering with what might appear to be mischief but was honestly just love, playfulness, and excitement about how Elise would react to her gifts. “That’s what I got her last year, was a Funko Pop of the Doom marine. Fun trivia, I call her Doomslayer, that’s my nickname for her. Because… she is a badass.”

 

Dan paused a moment to look at the chat.

 

“‘Say hi to the fivesixteenthslifecrisisphannies group chat.’ Aw, you graduated! Good for you. We’re getting older, we’re not getting any more at peace with our inevitable mortality. ‘Any Christmas plans?’ Not really, just dinner on Christmas eve, crackers, gifts, the usual stuff. Elise wanted to have her first proper Christmas here at the new house, so we didn’t make any travel plans or anything. Her parents were none too happy about it but her sister understood. 

  
“‘Pinof 10?’ like five of you are asking. Yes yes yes, I know, it’s a tiny bit late, but to be fair, stuff’s been complex lately. We’re only just now settled into the house. Probably this week though. No promises but… probably. Elise will not be in it, don’t worry, she said she doesn’t like invading the Dan and Phil brand. It’s kind of-- like, we’ve even  _ asked _ her to model merch on the store, since she wears a different size and has a different shape than me & Phil or Cornelia, so like it’d be useful to have her there, but she’s just staunchly against it. Absolutely no. ‘She seems like good people.’ She is. ‘OMG you have to make her model stuff!’ I’m trying, guys! I’ll let her know you want it. Maybe that’ll sway her. ‘Ew no I don’t want her modeling your stuff.’ Rude. Nevermind then.” Dan laughed, knowing he was still going to keep wearing Elise down until she agreed. Sure, it was useful to have someone her size & shape modeling their merch, but mostly he just thought she was beautiful and wanted her face to be part of his brand  _ somehow _ . 

 

“‘What’s married life like?’ Who told you I got married,  _ Kumiko _ ? That’s news to me. Should I marry Elise though? That’s a question. Question of the freakin’ year. There are good reasons to do it, there are good reasons not to do it. We’ll see. ‘Green card marriage lol’ Yeah it would probably be a green card marriage at this point, a bit risky to get married so soon. Honestly I’m amazed she agreed to move in with us, even that is a bit dodgy. ‘So romantic omg’ No, seriously kids - don’t move in with someone when you’ve only technically been dating for like a month!” Dan let out a bit of a cackle, acknowledging internally how foolish the arrangement with Elise must seem from the outside. To him, it was a natural progression of things for him to ask Elise to move in when she needed a place to live. The relationship had existed, in whatever form, for a year and in that time he’d seen Elise at her worst, best, most unusual, and most everyday. That one year had felt like a decade and the two of them had learned so much about one another. But given their mutual habit of avoiding mentioning one another in their videos and on social media, the speed at which she and Dan got together after Elise’s divorce, and the Phandom’s general impression that Elise had “intruded” on Dan and Phil’s lives by moving in with them, there were those who felt a bit uneasy about the whole situation.

 

Admittedly, it hadn’t taken long at all for Dan to fall in love with Elise, and once that feeling had sunk its teeth into him, it refused to let go. The pain of that bite had been worth it, however, and now it was just a comfortable pressure that, should he lose it, would make him feel empty and drain him of life.

 

“‘What’s it like to be in love?’ ...Wow. Now  _ that _ is a question.” Dan laughed nervously. “Uh… it’s both exactly like what people tell you, and not like that at all. You know how adults will always tell you ‘when you’re in love, you just know it!’? That’s true, but it’s not. You can think you’re in love, and think you know it, but you don’t know it. Only time can really tell you for sure. 

 

“When you’re in love, it’s a bit like… best friends, but more magic. Or maybe it’s like being by yourself as an introvert - you know, alone, but not feeling lonely - but instead of like, vines and moss growing all around you over time, it’s flowers. And it’s a bit like being in a dark cozy cave, but instead of just dirt and rocks everywhere, you can find a bunch of gemstones of a hundred million different colors. And whenever you go exploring, looking behind rocks and digging a little, you’re always rewarded because you always find a new color of gemstone. So love is like, all the best things in life, the stuff that makes you feel safe and grounded and protected, but made a tiny bit more beautiful and precious and… and magical-- ugh, I’m gonna vomit if I get any more fluffy here you guys. Gotta stop. Ask me something less gross.” Dan’s laugh rang out through the lounge, down the hall, into Elise’s room. She’d had her headphones off for a few minutes and heard Dan’s description of love. She smiled to herself, agreeing with him entirely. And thinking that Phil’s penchant for metaphor had started to rub off on Dan just a tiny bit.

 

“‘No advent calendar this year?’ No, no advent calendar this year. We decided we didn’t want to do one this year unless we could find some way to ship them to the USA and Australia too, we didn’t like the idea of a bunch of you guys missing out. Maybe next year we’ll figure a way to do it, but I think we’ll have to just manufacture them in those other countries. Not sure how that’ll work out. Martyn would have to fill you in there.”

 

The live show continued as normal with Dan providing some moving-related story time, unassuming merchandise promotion (“buy it if you want, but no pressure if you don’t,” as usual), and more questions about Elise.

 

***

 

“Mmm… How are you so good at this?” Dan said, his eyes rolling back.

 

“Years of practice,” Elise smirked. 

 

“I swear, I don’t deserve you. God, so delicious.”

 

Dan watched as Elise’s tongue danced across the white sweetness splashed across her fingertips.

 

Unable to handle the sensory overload, Dan closed his eyes. “I may never eat anything but these cupcakes ever again.”

 

“You sure know how to make a girl feel good about herself,” Elise replied, sucking the last of the excess frosting from her index finger, being as flirtatious as she could.

 

“I don’t know which is the sexier foreplay,” Dan said, folding up his empty cupcake wrapper, “your baking skills or the skills your tongue has.” He tossed the wrapper into the bin, stepped closer to Elise, and wrapped one arm around her waist.

 

“Why not both? Let’s just go with ‘I’m the perfect girlfriend’ and leave it there.”

 

“No complaints from me.” Dan swooped in for a vanilla-flavored kiss and grabbed a handful of Elise’s hair.

 

“Oi, you two - I’d say get a room but you already have one. Get this smut out of my kitchen!” Phil, having just passed by, took a detour to get behind Dan and playfully try to push him and his girlfriend out of the kitchen while the two pests giggled like schoolchildren the whole time.

 

“The cupcakes are done by the way,” Elise said to him. “Still a tiny bit warm because we were too eager to frost them.”

 

“Too eager to make sex jokes about the frosting, you mean,” Dan said. Elise shrugged, smiling, wordlessly conceding.

 

“Are they good?” Phil said, picking one of the cupcakes up. “More importantly, are they tainted in any way? You two scare me with your kitchen antics sometimes.”

 

Dan chuckled. “I promise you that they are both delicious and completely untainted in any way.”

 

Phil bit into one of the cupcakes. His eyes widened. “Oh my god,” he said with a mostly closed, and rather full, mouth.

 

“Right?” Dan replied, beaming.

 

Phil swallowed his first bite so he could talk. “Elise, you need to bake these all the time. Every holiday. We’ll just make  _ you _ do all our baking videos.”   


 

“Oh that’ll be exciting,” Elise said mockingly. “For Christmas, cupcakes with red & green sprinkles! And on Easter, pastel colored cupcakes! And on Halloween - oh my god, shocker - orange cupcakes with green frosting!”

 

“I fail to see the problem with this,” Dan said with a completely straight face, hands on his hips.

 

Elise lit up. “Actually, orange flavor cupcakes with--”

 

Dan said at the same time as Elise, “--pistachio frosting!”

 

“That would indeed be amazing,” Dan said solo.

 

Phil’s eyes went from Dan to Elise and back again. “You two are terrifying.”

 

***

 

“What on  _ earth _ are you listening to?”

 

“Christmas J-Pop songs!” Elise said excitedly, dancing around the lounge for no other reason than to do it. She had a Santa hat on her head that was just a tiny bit too big and kept falling into her eyes, and wore a tinsel garland like a scarf. “Japan does the best Christmastime pop songs. They’re so unashamed of the whole commercialized Christmas thing, there’s a new batch of romantic ballads and uptempo happy-scrappy shit with jingle bells in it every goddamned year and I LOVE it.” She started singing along to the chorus of this particular piece of happy-scrappy shit while dancing around like a mad creature. “ _ A winter fairy’s melting a snowman _ ,” she belted happily, “ _ A winter fairy’s melting a snowman _ _!_ ”

 

Dan stood back, arms folded, and shook his head. “Why would a winter fairy  _ melt _ a snowman?”

 

“Because Japan!” Elise declared.

 

Dan couldn’t help laugh as he approached Elise, took her hands, and started dancing with her. He even found himself singing along to the repetitive and easy-to-learn chorus when it came round again.

 

The next song was a ballad, starting with a twinkling synth piano and sparse hi-hat hits. As the female vocalist came in, Dan tilted his head up. “This sounds familiar.”

 

“BoA,” Elise replied. “‘Merikuri’.”

 

“Oh, the K-Pop singer, right? That’s a bit of a throwback, isn’t it?”

 

“Yeah, I miss that era of K-Pop. Too bad her English album didn’t do well.”

 

“I didn't even know she had an English album.”

 

“Yup. It’s pretty solid dance stuff, definitely very Americanized th--”

 

Dan put a finger over her lips. “We’re slow dancing to a romantic Christmas ballad and you’re in ‘I take music way too seriously’ mode.”

 

Elise gave a bashful grin. “Sorry.”

 

Dan smiled warmly. “Don’t worry. It’s cute.”

 

They swayed together without speaking for a few comfortable moments. When the chorus crescendoed, Elise rested her head on Dan, holding him close. He kissed the top of her head, feeling incredibly peaceful.  _ Seasonally appropriate _ , he thought.

 

He reflected back on the question he asked himself on his live show.  _ Should I marry Elise? _

 

He smiled to himself, knowing the answer.

 

***

 

On Christmas Day, the TV was on in the background as Dan, Phil, and Elise opened their gifts. Elise adored her candles (Oh my god the Texas one is so perfect, I can’t believe it) and the Zelda triforce earrings from Dan; Dan likewise appreciated the shockingly cool black shoes and set of Final Fantasy plushies he got from Elise. 

“I’m American so I can throw something at the TV when the Queen’s Christmas message interrupts everything, right?”

 

“Wait for us to turn our backs if you must do that,” Dan said. “I don’t want to be an accessory to treason.”

 

“Don’t throw things at the TV,” Phil whined. “We need the TV!”

 

“I could just wad up some wrapping paper or something. Wouldn’t hurt the TV at all.”

 

Elise’s phone lit up and played a tone - her sister, Andie, was starting a video call. She smiled brightly and answered.

 

“Merry Christmas!” Elise exclaimed.

 

“Hey, Merry Christmas!” Andie said back. “What’s shakin’?”

 

“Not much, watching TV, opening presents. Wearing a tissue paper crown on my head. It’s the height of European fashion.”

 

“You work it,” Andie laughed.

 

Elise made a face, her mouth in a straight line. “I can see you doing that, you know,” she said to Dan, who was making faces behind her. He and Andie cracked up, while Elise shook her head and smiled.

 

“Where’s Phil?” Andie asked.

 

“Right here!” Phil waved, his hand in frame but nothing else. Elise turned the phone slightly so Phil could be seen in his Christmas sweater and pajama pants.

 

“How’s stuff?” Andie asked him.

 

“Good, how about you?”

 

“Busy. I made a reference to you in my last video, did you see?”

 

“I did! I was wondering if that was on purpose.”

 

“God, get a room, you two!” Elise interrupted. “Phil, you can call my sister later.”

 

“Okay, okay. Bye Andie!” Phil called.

 

“Bye Phil!” Andie said.

 

“Wait, what time is it for you?” Elise asked. “Isn’t it like 6 AM?”

 

“7! Mom’s already up making breakfast, the smell of coffee woke me.”

 

“That sounds heavenly. We’re definitely a sleep-until-noon group over here.”

 

“So basically you haven’t changed a bit?”

 

“Not in the slightest! But neither have you or Mom, apparently.”

 

“Nope! Sometimes I wonder how you’re not adopted.”

 

“Same,” Elise nodded, narrowing her eyes. “It’s a mystery for the ages.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Dan said. “You’re practically twins.”

 

“Yeah but she’s the cute thin one,” Elise said with a mocking pout.

 

“I’m also the high maintenance one,” Andie admitted. “Besides, you’re the one with the booty. My ass is flatter than a pancake.”

 

Elise shook her head. “You’re too hard on yourself. I’m sure there’s a guy out there who appreciates your complete lack of a butt.” Elise and Andie both laughed.

 

“I think your butt’s nice,” Phil said to Andie over Elise’s shoulder, then stepped to the side as if to say “Please pretend I never said anything.”

 

Dan raised his eyebrows at Phil. He had the quick thought that someone as structured as Andie would be good for him, and someone as free-spirited and imaginative as Phil would be good for her.

 

Elise and Andie continued chatting until the latter sister was called down to breakfast.

 

***

 

As Elise took another ornament off the tree, she took a breath.

 

“Nervous?” Dan asked her.

 

“What if they don’t like it? I mean my music is really weird.”

 

“It’s just weird enough. It’s legitimately contributing something, but it’s so listenable, Elise. Really, you should be so proud of these songs.”

 

“I wish I wasn’t so nervous. I put so much time into this. What if I over-engineered it? What if it’s too polished and tinny sounding?”

 

“Elise, the bass was so heavy we got complaints, and we were playing it at 4 in the afternoon at a reasonable indoor volume. It’s definitely not tinny. If it were an actual tin, it still wouldn’t be tinny.”

 

“I can’t stop overthinking this,” Elise shook her head. Dan walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders to turn her so she was facing him.

 

“Your music is fucking awesome, Elise. Chill the fuck out.” He smiled at her sweetly for as long as he could stand it before he broke into laughs. She laughed right back, looked down, then looked back up and breathed.

 

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, the grin still painting her face. “It’s too late to rework anything and reupload the songs, and won’t know what people think until tomorrow anyway, so no point in thinking about it now!”

 

“There ya go, giving up! That’s the spirit!”

 

Dan kissed Elise briefly on the lips and they returned to the tree, slowly removing the signs of Christmas from the lounge.

 

“This was a really great Christmas,” Elise said. “I’ve never been further from home and yet I’ve never felt more at home.”

 

Dan felt honored in a way. He knew how attached Elise could get to things like home, traditions, and other such comforts. For his city, his house, and his life to be a place where Elise felt at home was a joy. He delighted in making her happy, and this was the calmest and happiest he’d ever seen her. The removal of the Christmas decorations was bittersweet in a way. On the one hand, he and Elise were sad to see the holiday season end; on the other hand, it felt like this time of year had been a test that Elise’s new life had passed with flying colors.

 

Elise felt like she really belonged here now. And she hadn’t felt like she truly belonged anywhere in a very long time.

 

Dan saw the warmth in her face and stared, transfixed, as he would if he were watching a lit fireplace. He wanted to say something, but didn’t know what. So he just smiled, put down the ornaments he was holding, and motioned for Elise to do the same. She did, tilting her head curiously. He took Elise by the hand and walked out to the balcony with her.

 

Snow was falling, but not sticking on the ground. The glow of streetlights reflecting off the wet pavement outside gave everything a wintry sparkle, however, and the atmosphere was somehow still magical. Dan stood behind Elise, wrapping his arms around her while they watched cars go by. He pressed the side of his head against hers, kissing her shoulder briefly, wondering how it can be so cold outside but he can feel so warm just from hugging another person. Elise put one hand in her pocket and reached up to hold Dan’s wrist against her chest with the other.

 

They stood in silence, listening to traffic and the sounds of the city, for what seemed like a beautiful eternity.

 

Eventually, the snowflakes that hit the ground weren’t melting anymore. Elise looked at Dan to see a snowflake resting on his eyelashes. She tilted her eyes up to his hair, where several more were perched, waiting for a melt that never came. Dan noticed her looking up and rocked his eyes upward as if he were capable of seeing the snow his head was collecting. Elise laughed as Dan stood up straight, removing his arms from Elise’s torso, and brushed the snow off his head.

 

It was only when they were separated that they realized how cold they really were. Elise motioned with her head to ask if they should go back inside. Dan nodded.

 

Once they were both inside, Elise closed the door. “It got cold fast!” she said.

 

“Holy shit, you’re telling me. I’m shivering like a goddamn leaf.”

 

“I vote hot cocoa, fireplace, and blankets. What do you think?”

 

“That sounds heavenly.”

 

Elise marched to the kitchen while Dan started a fire and got a couple of blankets out, laying them out on the couch and getting ready to turn on the TV.

 

“Hey, Elise?” he called.

 

“Hm?”

 

_ Have you given marriage any thought? _ he wanted to ask. He didn’t, though. But now Elise was expecting him to say something so, after a moment of nervous hesitation, he just said “Where’s the X-Box controller?”

 

“I left it on the coffee table before, it should still be there,” Elise called back.

 

“Found it,” Dan lied, pretending he hadn’t been looking at the controller the whole time. “It was under some stuff.”

 

He plopped down on the couch, wondering when he’d be brave enough to ask if Elise had any intention of one day getting remarried. To him.  _ It’s okay,  _ he thought. _ Too soon for that anyway. I’m just getting caught up in how romantic the season is, that’s all. I can be patient. _

Elise returned to the lounge with a mug of hot cocoa in each hand. She set them on the table, getting under one of the blankets.

 

“Are you gonna get under yours, or is it the couch that needs warming up?”

 

Dan took a second to realize what she was talking about, and then got up so he could drape his own blanket over himself. They both grabbed their drinks off the table.

 

“I don’t want to watch anything,” he said.

 

“Me neither,” Elise said, taking a sip. “God, I feel so…  _ right _ right now.”

 

“Same.”

 

“I’ve always preferred winter to summer,” she sighed. “Can’t really get cozy like this when it’s hot outside, can you?”

 

“Nope,” Dan said. He took a sip of his hot cocoa and held the mug to his lips where he could smell the chocolate and feel the warmth of it. He closed his eyes for a moment, letting himself get immersed in the atmosphere of the moment. Elise smiled at him, falling in love with his method of manufacturing the emotions he wanted to feel right then.

 

“Put your drink down,” she said. He did, and she did the same.

 

She crawled over to him. “Lay down,” she said quietly.

 

He slid himself down so his head was on the armrest and the length of his body extended along the couch. His blanket gave up, succumbing to gravity’s pull and eventually relaxing in a pile on the floor. Elise was on her hands and knees on top of Dan now, gazing into his eyes.

 

Dan didn’t even want that blanket anymore. Didn’t need it.

 

He raised a hand to Elise’s cheek, subtly pulling her down for a kiss. Their body temperatures were instantly raised, their entire selves relaxing from the warmth they felt as their lips made contact. The kiss ramped up in intensity, tension escalating, each of them breathing in the other as though love were an anaesthetic making them forget about every stress they’d ever experienced. When the kiss stopped, the intimacy did not. It felt like their souls were still folded into one another.

 

“I want you,” Elise said.

 

They’d made love before, many times by now. But there was something different about tonight. Dan thought briefly that perhaps it was because they’d never done it on the couch before, but that wasn’t it. It was a deeper change. It was almost as though the desperate need for one another was back; something that hadn’t been there between them since Elise was still married. 

 

This was the kind of sex you have when you’re not taking each other for granted. When you know there’s no such thing as “eternity,” and that these moments are fleeting in the grand cosmic scheme of things.

 

When Elise had rejected Dan in favor of her now ex-husband, Dan had experienced what it was like to lose her. He felt his heart tear to pieces and leave his body in the form of tears and anguished screaming. When she came back to him, when she was his again, he felt relief and peace and joy, but something else, some other feeling that he’d felt the entire time he’d known her before, had gone missing.

 

Fear.

 

When she was still married, the threat of losing Elise was always present and pervaded every interaction. It was somewhat thrilling in retrospect, and probably added something to the relationship the same way seasonings add depth and interest to a dish. Ever since Elise agreed to move in, however, that fear was gone. And things felt perfectly warm, comfortable, and sweet that entire time. Pure love, untainted by stress or anxiety.

 

But Dan realized that, out on the balcony, something had shifted within him. He realized he could lose Elise at any time. The world could end, she could die, she could get hurt or kidnapped or one day decide Dan wasn’t enough anymore and simply leave.

 

There really was no such thing as “eternity.”

 

As Dan touched and kissed Elise, he made an effort to memorize everything about her. Every curve, every movement, every look, every sound. He soaked it all in as though it were new, as though it were the first time. And, just as novelty makes anything shinier and more beautiful, Dan saw her as more beautiful than she’d ever been.

 

“I love you,” he exhaled as they made love.

 

Elise, holding eye contact, inhaled as though she’d never heard him say it before and wanted to keep the words inside her.

 

“I love you too,” she replied. “Oh god, Dan, I love you so much.”

 

Their lips brushed against each other, the two of them breathing unevenly and hungrily as their orgasms built.

 

When they released simultaneously, which had never happened before, their moans were short, tense, and delicate. As she came down from her orgasm, Elise’s eyes teared up, and she smiled as her body began to relax.

 

“Wow,” she said.

 

“Yeah,” Dan replied, at a loss for what else could possibly be said.

 

The fire crackled, providing accompaniment for their breathing as it evened back out. Elise rested her head on Dan’s chest, ready to fall asleep.

 

“Merry Christmas, Doomslayer,” Dan said, stroking her hair.

 

“Merry Christmas,” Elise yawned.

 

Dan smiled and let himself drift off to sleep, knowing Phil would probably find them like that in the morning, but not caring.

  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if the live stream at the beginning of the story was rambly and hard to read. I tried to strike a balance between Dan's actual speech patterns during those shows and making it readable, but I mean... I can only do so much with what those live shows give me to work with, you know?


End file.
